One
of the best albums I've ever heard, and definitely the best CD to come
out this year. Six Jeff Pitcher/Above
the Orange Trees tracks and eight Christian
Kiefer tracks, and no filler. This album has so many things going
for it, I barely know where to begin. Both artists take a stab at covering
one of the other's songs, and in both cases the remake is infinitely better
than the original. "Erendira" is one of those tunes that makes
you want to fall to your knees and weep for your lost love each and every
time you hear it. Jeff's vocals and heavy guitar strums interweave perfectly
with the expertly spun violin and cello backings, and the end result is
a glorious bittersweet masterpiece. Christian's cover of "Sorry My
Love" is equally amazing, taking the least impressive track off of
Incredible Falling and pouring every
last drop of his voice into one last haunting scream for forgiveness.
The rest of the album is just as inspired, and Christian
Kiefer's half gets extra points for managing to tie together each
of his tracks (including the Jeff Pitcher
cover) into an 8-part Faustian parable of temptation, sin, and damnation/redemption.
If you don't own this album, you don't know what you're missing.

#2

Jacob
Golden HALLELUJAH
WORLD (Rough
Trade)

Birthday
was one of the single greatest bands to ever emerge from the Sacramento
valley, and one of the few groups who really stood a good chance of "making
it" before the band's unfortunate breakup two years ago. This long
overdue album recaptures a bit of that lost magic, and is sadly not yet
available for sale in the US. Fans of the full lineup will be pleased
to know that Tony, Gavin, & James are featured on all but 3 of the
12 tracks, so this is equally their baby as it is Jacob's. Most of the
"classic" Youth Symphony era tracks
made it onto this CD, including "Penny Penny," "Blue Mormon
Sweater," and of course, "Jesus Angelina" (though sadly
no "Palace Closet" or "Gold Oasis") With any luck,
Hallelujah World will be one of the
first albums to be released under the purported Rough
Trade America label I've been hearing about recently.

#3

Low
Flying OwlsSelf
Titled (EP)(The
Americans Are Coming Records)

The
Low Flying Owls are the epitome of "that
which does not kill me, only makes me stronger." Though rumors of
their death have been greatly exaggerated, this 3-track EP contains some
of their finest work yet, even without the expert assistance of bassist
Michael Bruce. It's curious to note that both "La, Da, Da" and
"April May" are actually rather old LFO
songs, and both began as slow acoustic numbers, before being returned
to the crucible to emerge in their final hard-rockin' form. The three
tracks clock in at just under 20 minutes total, so you get plenty of song
for a measly $7.

#4

The
Good LifeBLACK
OUT (Saddle
Creek)

Who
would have thought that Nebraska would produce some of the best new music
of the last three years, but the artists on Saddle
Creek (including Azure Ray, Now
It's Overhead, Cursive, and Bright
Eyes, just to name a few) never fail to deliver. Following in the
footsteps of Arab Strap, Belle
& Sebastian, and Cat Power, The
Good Life is one of those bands you either get or you don't. If
you like songs about drinking, failure, and fucked up relationships, then
this could be the album for you. Black
Out is stronger and better
structured than their previous effort, Novena
on a Nocturn, drifting
hazily from mood to mood and in and out of consciousness just like the
title implies.

#5

The
Velvet TeenOUT
OF THE FIERCE PARADE(Slowdance)

I
almost left this one off the list just out of spite, since we haven't
had a Velvet Teen gig anywhere near Sacramento
in almost a year, but the boys from Petaluma (or is it Santa Rosa?) have
been working hard, touring with Cursive,
and just finished their first video (destined to be played once on MTV2
and then buried under a load of rubbish), so I suppose we can forgive
them. Out of the Fierce Parade is
their first full-length album on an indie label, and really demonstrates
how much they've grown since adding bassist Josh Staples to their post-Secret
Band lineup. Their vocal and instrumental range is practically
infinite, ranging from soaring three-part harmonies to jarring soul-wrenching
rock'n'roll screams-- sometimes all within the same song. My only worry
is that this album is so good, they might have a hard time topping it
when they go back into the studio to record their next release.

#6

DeathrayWHITE
SLEEVES (EP)(Doppler
Records)

Bet
you never thought you'd see another Deathray
album any time soon, but here it is in all it's 5-track EP goodness. I
should warn you that this is a rather different band than the one who
gave us "Lunatic Friends" and "Now that I am Blind."
Yeah, the songs still barely scratch the 3 minute mark, Dana and Greg
still deliver dead-on vocals, and the lyrics to "Making Sure it's
Canada" make only slightly less sense than those of "Baby Polygon,"
but without Max (who now has his own band called The
High Speed Scene) this is a guitar-heavy synthesizer-less Deathray.
I won't say one is better than the other, but at the risk of waxing lyrical,
"these days it's not the same..."

#7

Azure
Ray BURN
AND SHIVER(Warm)

Yet
another home run for the folks at Saddle Creek.
Let me state on record that I don't think Burn
& Shiver is their best album, and that November and their
self titled debut were much stronger releases, but that's like saying
one Picasso is better than another Picasso-- they're both still breathtaking
pieces of art. Ethereal female vocals and minimalist piano and guitar
riffs that stretch off into infinity, oh my yes! If this band doesn't
instantly make you want to make you cuddle up safe and warm with a pretty
member of the opposite sex (or whatever your choosing) while storm clouds
rage outside your bedroom window, then you're either a tone-deaf eunuch
or older than Strom Thurman's grandma.

The
Scottish "super-group" is back, with an even more impressive
piece of work than Y'all Get Scared Now.
Just in case you've been living under a rock for the past couple of years,
The Reindeer Section is what you get if you
take 27 of the most talented Scottish musician (including members of Belle
& Sebastian, Arab Strap, Teenage
Fanclub and Mogwai) and formed them
into some sort of indie uber-band, lead by Snow
Patrol's Gary Lightbody. Like Sacramento, the Glasgow music community
is a very close and tightly knit family. Anywhere else, an album this
big would just be a pitiful publicity stunt to boost egos and inflate
record sales, but with The Reindeer Section
it's truly a labor of love, and it shows.

#9

The
Flipsides CLEVER
ONE(Pink
& Black Records)

This
album falls into the "about damn time" category. If you weren't
lucky enough to grab a copy of their long out of print 5-track back in
2000, then this is probably your first chance to hear one of my all-time
favorite female-fronted punk bands. The vocals are great, the rhythms
are catchy and the lyrics are sharp enough to poke somebody's eye out.
'Nuff said.

#10

LaptopDONT
TRY THIS AT HOME (EP)(Trust
Me Records)

Laptop
is Jesse Hartman, a New York-based musician/actor/filmmaker, and answer
to the age-old question, what would happen if David
Bowie, Gary Numan, and Stephin
Merritt mated? The man has single-handedly resurrected the glory
of early 80's analog synthesizers and redefined the art of neurotic pseudo-eurotrash
vocals. This 4-Track EP contains the title track from his forthcoming
album, plus three revisions of old favorites from his days in the L.A.
indie/garage band Sammy. Though the songs
aren't nearly as impressive as previous greats like "I'm So Happy
You Failed" or "The New You," they still pack quite a punch,
and are well worth the effort of tracking down a copy online or through
one of the better independent music stores.

#11

The
Groovie GhouliesGO
STORIES(Stardumb
Records)

Ok,
I know I said this was a top 10 list, but you didn't honestly think I
could compose a list of the best CD's of 2002 and *not* mention the Groovie
Ghoulies, did you?

Honorable
Mention:

The
latest and greatest by: Pyre,
Demios, Park Avenue
Music (technically a 2001 release, but a 2002 re-release under
the Devil in the Woods label), Call
Me Ishmael, The Skirts, Parker
& Lily, Stars of Stage & Screen,
The Mallrats, Estereo,
Elena Powell, and Slowdance
Record's Translation Music 2 CD (just
for turning me on to The Rum Diary, Rubymar,
and Superficial Hero)